AT&T said it's 4G LTE network is now live in 120 markets [PDF]. The carrier expects to cover 300 million people by the end of 2014 with speeds up to 10 times faster than 3G, AT&T said.

Earlier this month, AT&T introduced its 4G LTE service in Salt Lake City, Utah; Albuquerque, N.M.; and Reading, Penn. along with three markets in Puerto Rico.

AT&T last month announced a three-year upgrade to its wireless and wired networks dubbed Project Velocity IP (VIP). As part of the plan, the service provider will spend $8 billion over the next three years beefing up its wireless network.

The company also plans to buy more spectrum for a total of 118 MHz nationwide and push for the FCC to release more. AT&T also pledged to deploy small cell tech, macro cells, and more distributed antenna systems to boost the performance of its existing network.

Rival carrier Verizon is leading the 4G LTE charge in the U.S., currently serving more than 440 cities. Meanwhile, Sprint is planning to bring its own 4G LTE network to more than 100 new cities over the coming months. T-Mobile expects to upgrade to 4G LTE in 2013.

Global 4G LTE subscribership is expected to skyrocket from 9 million last year to more than 560 million in 2016, according to a recent report from Parks Associates.

Angela has been a PCMag reporter since January 2012. Prior to joining the team, she worked as a reporter for SC Magazine, covering everything related to hackers and computer security. Angela has also written for The Northern Valley Suburbanite in New Jersey, The Dominion Post in West Virginia, and the Uniontown-Herald Standard in Pennsylvania. She is a graduate of West Virginia University's Perely Isaac Reed School of Journalism.
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